Currently, with the development of technologies for electronic tags and the like, there has been an increasing need to insert a unique identification key into each of chips that are produced on a large scale. Accordingly, there is a need for a system and a method that may generate a digital value, for example, identification key, a unique ID, and the like.
An example of existing methods to generate and insert an identification key into each of chips may include a method using hardware or software.
However, the above method of generating the identification key using hardware or software may increase costs for development or production of software, which results in increasing a chip unit cost and a production cycle.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method that may generate and manage an irreproducible digital value with low costs and a simple manufacturing process.
When manufacturing an integrated circuit (IC) chip, a plurality of identical circuit elements may be integrated within a single chip. In this case, the plurality of identical circuit elements may be provided on the same wafer through the same manufacturing process according to the same design rule.
Accordingly, macroscopic electrical characteristics or digital characteristics of circuit elements may be the same, whereas micro electrical characteristics or analog characteristics of circuit elements may not be exactly the same. The above slight differences result from a process variation existing in a semiconductor process. Regardless of how excellent a corresponding process is, the process variation of the process may not completely eliminate the process variation.